The heat is on again at the pumps, and Labour is roaring back.
The Nigeria Labour Congress has slammed the Federal Government over the fresh surge in petrol prices, demanding an immediate and reasonable salary increase for workers and insisting that crude oil must be sold in Naira to local refineries to end Nigeria’s endless exposure to global shocks.
In a strongly-worded statement titled “Save the Situation Now” by its President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, the NLC said Nigerians are being pushed to the wall as petrol now sells for as high as N1,430 per litre in major cities where it is even available, with higher prices in outlying areas.
N1,430 Per Litre: Poverty Deepens As Prices Explode
The NLC warned that the new price is not just about fuel. It is a trigger for a total cost-of-living explosion.
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Transport fares have doubled, food prices are climbing daily, school fees, house rents and tariffs are set to follow.
“These new costs continue to inflict or deepen poverty among the populace, stressing the quality of life to the limits,” the Congress lamented.
The labour centre said the hike is even more painful because it came just when government pressure on marketers to cut prices in line with falling international crude prices was beginning to work. Now, renewed conflict in the Gulf has again exposed Nigeria, an oil-producing giant, to external shocks.
Pay Workers More, Sell Crude In Naira
To save the situation, the NLC issued three clear demands: pay workers a living wage, flood local refineries with crude in Naira, and build strategic storage.
It argued there is nothing wrong with government subsidising citizens in an emergency, noting that other oil-producing nations are rolling out palliatives to shield their people.
The Congress revealed that the government is raking in between $35 and $40 per barrel above the crude benchmark in the 2026 budget, translating to trillions of naira in windfall monthly. That money, it said, must be used to cushion Nigerians now.
It also described as unreasonable and self-defeating the continued importation of crude by local refineries when Nigeria produces crude in abundance.
2027 Warning: Marketers Must Not Punish Nigerians
In a direct political warning, the NLC told the Federal Government, which is seeking re-election in a few months, that it cannot watch marketers inflict suffering on citizens in the name of deregulation.
“A government that seeks re-election in the next few months cannot afford to stand and watch marketers inflict suffering on the citizenry in the name of deregulation,” the statement declared.
Labour vowed it has an obligation to speak out or take appropriate action if the hardship continues, insisting that expanding storage, refining locally and paying a reasonable wage will create jobs, grow the economy and tackle insecurity.
